Agenda, decisions and minutes


Venue: Bodicote House, Bodicote, Banbury, OX15 4AA

Contact: Lesley Farrell, Democratic and Elections  Email: lesley.farrell@cherwellandsouthnorthants.gov.uk, 01295 221591

Items
No. Item

36.

Declarations of Interest

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interests.

37.

Petitions and Requests to Address the Meeting

The Chairman to report on any requests to submit petitions or to address the meeting.

 

Minutes:

There were no petitions or requests to address the meeting.

38.

Urgent Business

The Chairman to advise whether they have agreed to any item of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

 

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

39.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 205 KB

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 4 December 2014.

Minutes:

Subject to the correction of typographical errors, the minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2014 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

40.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive communications from the Chairman.

 

Minutes:

There were no Chairman’s announcements

41.

Draft Drugs and Alcohol Policy pdf icon PDF 163 KB

Report of Head of Transformation

 

Purpose of Report

 

To seek Member approval of a revised Drugs and Alcohol Policy, that can be used across both Cherwell District Council and South Northamptonshire Council.

 

Recommendations

 

The meeting is recommended to:

 

 

1.         Approve the revised shared Drugs and Alcohol Policy.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Resolved

 

(1)           That the revised shared Drugs and Alcohol Policy be approved.

Minutes:

The Human Resources Business Partner for Environmental Services presented a report of the Head of Transformation which sought approval of a revised Drugs and Alcohol Policy to be used across both Cherwell District Council and South Northamptonshire Council.

 

In response to Member’s concerns that random drugs and alcohol testing was not included in the policy, the Human Resources Business Partner for Environmental Services explained that a business case was being prepared to go before the Joint Management Team requesting approval of random testing.

 

Resolved

 

(1)           That the revised shared Drugs and Alcohol Policy be approved.

42.

Draft Shared Capability Policy pdf icon PDF 328 KB

Report of Head of Transformation

 

Purpose of Report

 

To seek Member approval for a revised Capability Policy that can be used for South Northamptonshire Council and Cherwell District Council.

 

Recommendations

 

The meeting is recommended to:

 

1.    Approve the draft two-way shared Capability Policy.

Decision:

Resolved

 

(1)           That the draft two-way shared Capability Policy be approved.

Minutes:

The Interim Human Resources Business Partner presented a report of the Head of Transformation which sought approval of a revised Capability Policy to be used across both Cherwell District Council and South Northamptonshire Council.

 

Resolved

 

(1)           That the draft two-way shared Capability Policy be approved.

43.

Draft Sickness Absence Policy & Procedure pdf icon PDF 440 KB

Report of Head of Transformation

 

Purpose of Report

 

To seek member approval to implement a shared and revised Sickness Absence Policy for Cherwell District Council and South Northamptonshire Council.

 

Recommendations

 

The meeting is recommended to:

 

1.             Approve the draft Sickness Absence Policy and Procedure.

Decision:

Resolved

 

(1)           That the draft Sickness Absence Policy and Procedure be approved.

Minutes:

The Human Resources and Organisational Development Manager presented a report of Head of Transformation which sought approval to implement a shared and revised Sickness Absence Policy for Cherwell District Council and South Northamptonshire Council. 

 

Resolved

 

(1)           That the draft Sickness Absence Policy and Procedure be approved.

44.

Family Friendly Policy pdf icon PDF 125 KB

Report of Head of Transformation

 

Purpose of Report

 

To seek Member approval for a revised Family Friendly Policy that has been brought together in one guidance document, from a number of policies across both Councils that relate to maternity, paternity, adoption leave, time off for dependants and parental leave.

 

Recommendations

 

The meeting is recommended to:

 

1.         Approve the revised policy guidance documents appended to this report.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Resolved

 

(1)          That the revised Family Friendly policy guidance documents be approved.

Minutes:

The Interim Human Resources Business Partner presented a report of Head of Transformation which sought approval of a revised Family Friendly Policy which brought together a number of policies from across Cherwell District Council and South Northamptonshire Council which related to maternity, paternity, adoption leave, time off for dependants and parental leave.  The revised policy also incorporated recent changes in regulations.

 

Resolved

 

(1)          That the revised Family Friendly policy guidance documents be approved.

45.

Draft Flexi-time Policy pdf icon PDF 157 KB

Report of Head of Transformation.

 

Purpose of Report

 

To seek member approval to implement a shared Flexi-time Policy for Cherwell District Council and South Northamptonshire Council.

 

Recommendations

 

The meeting is recommended to:

 

1.         Approve the revised two-way Flexi-time Policy.

 

Decision:

Resolved

 

(1)           That the revised two-way Flexi-time policy be approved.

Minutes:

The Interim Human Resources Business Partner presented a report of the Head of Transformation which sought approval to implement a shared Flexi-time Policy for Cherwell District Council and South Northamptonshire Council.

 

Resolved

 

(1)           That the revised two-way Flexi-time policy be approved.

46.

Employment Statistics Quarter 3: 01 October 2014 to 31 December 2014 pdf icon PDF 157 KB

Report of Head of Transformation

 

Purpose of Report

 

The purpose of this report is to detail employment statistics for information and monitoring purposes.

 

Recommendations

 

The meeting is recommended to:

 

1.          Note the contents of the report.

 

 

Decision:

Resolved

 

(1)           That the contents of the report be noted.

Minutes:

The Head of Transformation submitted a report which detailed employment statistics for information and monitoring purposes.

 

In presenting the report, the Human Resources Business Partner for Environmental Services explained that data on why staff leave the council’s employ, was currently being compiled and would be available for the next meeting of the committee.

 

Resolved

 

(1)           That the contents of the report be noted.

47.

Exclusion of the Public and Press

The following reports contain exempt information as defined in the following paragraphs of Part 1, Schedule 12A of Local Government Act 1972.

 

1 - Information relating to any individual.

 

Members are reminded that whilst the following item(s) have been marked as exempt, it is for the meeting to decide whether or not to consider each of them in private or in public. In making the decision, members should balance the interests of individuals or the Council itself in having access to the information. In considering their discretion members should also be mindful of the advice of Council Officers.

 

Should Members decide not to make a decision in public, they are recommended to pass the following recommendation:

 

“That, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business, on the grounds that they could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of Schedule 12A of that Act.”

 

Minutes:

Resolved

 

That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the ground that, if the public and press were present, it would be likely that exempt information falling under the provisions of Schedule 12A, Part 1, Paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 would be disclosed to them, and that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

48.

Exempt Appendices of Employment Statistics Quarter 3: 01 October 2014 to 31 December 2014

Exempt appendices of report of Head of Transformation.

Decision:

Resolved

 

(1)           That the contents of the exempt appendices be noted.

Minutes:

The Committee considered the exempt appendices to the report of the Head of Transformation which detailed employment statistics for the third quarter of the financial year (1 October 2014 to 31 December 2014).

 

Resolved

 

(1)           That the contents of the exempt appendices be noted.